Timer



Sept. 2, 1924. 1,506,957 A B. L. TOQUET TIMER Fillvd Dec. 15 1921 ATTURNEY Patented Sept. 2, 1924.

UNITED STATES PATENT .oF-ric :BENJAMIN LOUIS TOIQUET, or wEsTronT,CONNECTICUT, AssrGNoR To THE TooUET CARBURETOR CORPORATION, or wEsTPonT,coNNEoTICUT, A coRPoREATI'oN'oF CONNECTICUT. 'I

TIMER.

Application filed December 15, 1921. Serial No. 522,636.

To all whom t may concern.'

Be it known that BENJAMIN LoUis ToQUnT, a citizen of the United States,and resident of Westport; in the county of Fairield and State ofConnecticut; has invented certain new and useful Improvements in Timers;of which the following' is a specitication.

This inventionrelates to a new and improved timer for internalcombustion engines.

The broad object of the invention is to provide a novel timer which willbe as simple in construction and as cheap to manufacture as any deviceof similar nature heretofore known; and will, at the same time,V be moredurable; reliable and eiiicient than any timer now on the market.

Specifically, the aims of this invention are to provide an electricalspark timer device equipped with means better adapted to the purpose ofinsuring the necessary engagement between the contact roller and each ofthe contact segments of the timer as the roller moves over the race inthe performance of its function; to so arrange the contact roller withrespect to the timer shaft and race that a slipping action of the rollerover the insulatingring and cont-act segments tending to clear therace'of foreign matter will result; and to device a unique and improvedcontact roller which will be self-lubricating.

lVththe above and other objects in view, the construction; arrangementand combination of parts constituting the invention will now be Jfullydescribed and will hereinafter be specifically claimed, it being understood that slight changes in details of construction and arrangementof parts may be made so long as within the spirit of the invention andthe scope of the appended claims.

In the accompanying drawing forming a part of this specification.

Fig. 1 is an 'elevational view of the timer with cover removed; l

Fig. 2 is an elevational view of the unit of the timer which rotateswith the timer shaft, showing the unit removed from the timer casing andshaft;

Fig. 3 is an elevational view looking from the left in Fig. '2; and

Fig. 4 is an enlarged sectional view on line 4 4 in Fig. 2; looking inthe direction of the arrows. f

y'l/.Vith reference to the drawing and the numerals thereon, 10 denotesthe-timer casing, 11 a ring of insulating material within the' casing,12 the contact segments within the ring;"the vContact segments beingrovided in ordinary manner with bin ing posts 13; 14 a radiallyextending lug intended to be so connected that the spark canbe advancedor retarded7 15 the timer shaft projecting into the timer casing; and 16denotes a sleeve or hub within the casing and connected upon the timersha-ft in any manner Vto turn therewith.l VThe parts-just'describedmaybe of ordi-nary or preferred construction. t l

As very clearly shown, a lug 17 upon the sleeve or hub 16 pivotallysupports one end portion of the carrier 18 for the contact-v roller 19;and a Alug 20; also uponthe sleeve and spacedfrom the lug 17', isprovided with a seat 21 for one end of a-'coil spring 22 the oppositeend of which receives a protuberance 23 upon theother endportion of saidcarrier 18.v

` The carrier 18 is preferably constituted by a. pair of parallel sidemembers 24L'which are desirably of gene-ral curvilinear conformation inthe direction of their length,land a pair of parallel end members;denoted by 25 and 26, which connectthe vside members. The lug 17, asdisclosed, is arranged between the side members 24 adjacent theendmember' 25, a pin 27 through the lug-and side members affording thepivotal connection; and the protuberance 23 is upon the end member 26;vpreferablyv at the midlength thereof.

The lContact roller 19 is mounted to turn upon a short shaft 28 theopposite ends of which areiiXed within the side members 24 atsubstantially equalY distances f1-om the axis of the sleeve or hub 16;lbut at unequal distances from the end members 25 and'26, respectively,said y'shaft 4being preferably located at approximately the samedistance from the pivot pin 27 as it is from the protuberance-23. Thatis to say, while the contact rollerv 17 is mounted about halt waybetween the-pivoted'point ot the'carrier 18 and the coil spring122 on anairis in a plane that is substantially parallel with the timer shaft,said contact roller and its shaft are set at an angle with respect tothe sleeve or hub and its axis, with the result that when the unit,consisting of the sleever or huh,the

y the direction of movement of the roller over the race, with theresultfthat the roller will have attendency to run off of the race,4 itbeing prevented from doing so of course by Y. the side members of thecarrier. Obviously',

, ent.

a lslipping action between the roller and race results which is veryuseful in clearing the race' of foreign matter, such as oil or greasein` which the unit may be operating and bits y' off/the Imetalof thecontact roller and lsegments themselves which inevitably are preslvAswill be most clear from Figs. 2, 5 and f4, the Contact rolleris providedwith Aa lubricating hole 29 which ventends diametrically thereacross andaffords con'nnunication between the peripheral face of the roller andthe 7shaft 28, said shaftbeing grooved at 30 and having a fiat side asat Sito allow oil or grease to properly lubricate the axis lofthecontact roller and to freely pass out through the chamber provided byflattening la-portion of the shaft. rFhe lubricating feature asdescribed, while furnishing at all'times a well oiled bearing forY theContact roller, precludes the possibility of the lubricating hole andthe bearing becoming clogged with powder Vor the combination' oflubricant and metal which forms, as already suggested, between the raceand Contact roller, the groove and flattened portion of the shaftV I28providing an outlet. y

'It will be noted that the contact roller in the instance of the novelunit of the present timeriis between the pivotal point of the carrierand'thespring for insuring van en- -gagement between the roller and thecontact segments, the stress upon the spring in holding the contactroller against the race being in compression V and not in expansion asis the case in other timers of the type with which I am familiar.Obviously,when considered from the standpoint of a compact arrangement,this condition is ideal. In thev instance of a unit wherein the hinge`for the Contact arm is between the spring and roller and at aboutmidway between said spring and roller (as the hinge must be to produce apractical construction of timer), the forcel exerted byv the spring willbeaboutequal in value to the pressure of the contact roller against therace, whereas,

with the present arrangement, the pressure of the contact roller againstthe race and segments is approximately equal'in value to about twice theforce of the spring. As a consequence, it being axiomatic that morepower in a spring means added `material to 'obtain the power (moreweight), a spring to `accomplish in the novel unit the resultaccomplished in similar units as heretofore constructed need'be onlyabout one-half as heavy, and a spring just as heavy when utilized in mytimer will, evidently, provide for tlie'u'nit is rotating at rapid ratesoV speed, i

sometimes passing over without engaging the different contact segmentsand thus fail-v ing to produce the intended spark. The arrangement asillustrated and fully described is a great improvement over otherarrangements and can obviate the difficulties mentioned to a very greatextent for the reason Y that the spring of the present unit can be muchlighter, thus having less inertia itself and being quicker in its actionto overcome 'the inertiaof the carrier, and, at the same time, thespring-'can possess greater power to'hold the contact rollerV in morefirm engagement with the race. That is, when utilizing the presentconstruction of unit, the spring is more liable to not allow the con-rtact roller to leave the racebecause of the greater pressure withwhichthe 'roller engages the race, and when the roller does leave the race,the spring and carrier act more quickly, by reason of the lack ofinertia, to return the roller. Or, in other words, the arrangementof thespring and roller in the present case is such that the power of thespring can actuate the carrier lll) 'to cause the rollerrto exert `creatAressure against the race, while the inertia of the spring and carrier,working against the power when the roller leaves the race, ispractically negligible.

lzaving thus fully described the invention, what l claim as new-anddesire to secure by VLetters Patent is:

l. ln a device ofthe character described, a rotatable member, a contactroller, and a carrier for the contact roller associated with therotatable member, the carrier including parallel side members and thev'contact' roller being mounted in the side members on an axis oblique tosaid members and to the axis of the rotatable member.

2. In a device of the character described, a rotatable member, a carrierhaving one or' its ends hinged upon the rotatable member, the carrierincluding parallel side members, a spring supported from the rota-tablemember and supporting the other end of the carrier, and a contact rollermounted between the side members of said carrier, between said carrierhinge and spring and on an axis oblique to said side members and to theaxis of said rotatable member.

3. A device of the character described, comprising a casing, a racetherein and including insulation and contact segments, a contact rolleradapted to ride over said race and to alternately engage said insulationand segments, a carrier for the roller, the

carrier including side members and the contact roller being mounted inthe side members, a sleeve with which the carrier is hingedlyassociated, a timer shaft projecting into the casing and carrying thesleeve, the contact roller being mounted at an oblique angle withrespect to the timer shaft, and means for insuring engagement of thecontact roller with the race, whereby the full periphery of the contactroller can engage the race as said roller moves over the insulation andcontact segments and the Working face of the roller can be obliquelydisposed with respect to the direction of movement of said roller oversaid race for the purpose specified.

Signed at IVestport, in the county of Fairfield, and State ofConnecticut, this 9th day of December, A. D., 1921.

BENJAMIN LOUIS TOQUET.

